Folding clothesline support



y 1942- K. L. ORTON 2,289,725

FOLDING CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Filed May 17, 1941 Patented July 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,289,725 FOLDING CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Kenneth L. Orton, St. Paul, Minn. Application May 17, 1941, Serial No. 393,950

, 2 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for supporting lines and more particularly for supporting clothes lines in enclosed places such as rooms of buildings.

Frequently, housewives find it advisable to hang laundry indoors because of inclement weather or because of large percentages of soot and dirt in the outside air. Various devices have been devised for supporting clothes lines indoors but many of these have the disadvantage of extending outwardly from walls or downwardly from ceilings to an extent which makes them dangerous obstacles when they are not in use.

It is, therefore, a general object of my invention to provide a clothes line support which can be conveniently secured to a rafter or the like and which extends downwardly below the height of the rafter to support a clothes line at a convenient elevation and which when not in use can be swung up out of the way so that it is not unsightly nor is it in position to be dangerous to persons walking in the room.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and eflicient means for securing the line and for placing it under the proper tension when supported between a pair of the devices.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing, characters refer to the the views, and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pair of line supports with a line stretched between them and same parts throughout with the supports secured on the lower edges of 35 joists which are shown in fragmentary section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing an alternate position of the lines; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawing there is shown a bracket 5 which is provided with a plurality of apertures 45 6 to receive screws S by means of which the bracket 5 can be secured to a downwardly fac ing support such as the underside of a joist 1. As is well known the joists in a building are positioned parallel and spaced apart, and in most 50 basement rooms the ceilings are unfinished so that the joists are exposed to view. Of course, if the joists are covered some other downwardly facing support could be utilized.

1 against such frictional resistance.

wherein like reference device in dotted The bracket 5 has a pair of ears 8 extending downwardly therefrom in spaced relation to each other and pivotally secured to the ears 8 and lying between them is an arm 9 which is generally U-shaped in cross section. It ispreferred that the pivotal connections between the ears 8 and arm 9 be so. arranged that there is sufiicient frictional drag to permit the arms 9 to be swung upward as indicated in the righthand side of Fig. 1 and thearms 9 retained in such upward swung position unless pulled down The arms 9 extend downwardly a distance which makes a convenient height for a clothes line relative to the floor and the lower ends of said arms 9 may be provided with bends 9a which form line attaching hooks. However, another form of line attaching or securing device is also shown. Adjacent the hooked end 9a of the arm 9 is a rigid lateral projection ID a short distance above which is pivotally secured to the arm a cam-like locking dog II which has a knurled or similarly treated line engaging portion [2 and a releasing lever l3. As best indicated in Fig. 2, the line I 4 is placed between the rigid projection l0 and the locking member I l in such a way that a pull to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, will cause the locking member H to more tightly clamp the line between said locking member and the projection l0.

Adjacent the upper pivotally connected end of the arm 9 is a laterall projecting abutment member I5. In the full line position of the bracket shown in Fig. 3 the abutment member 15 bears against the bracket 5. Adjacent the abutment member [5 a wedge it is pivotally secured to the bracket 5 as at ll. This wedge has a slanted surface I61; and a finger engaging portion I 6b. The wedge with its slanted portion l6a can be swung to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4 or to various intermediate positions to limit the downward swinging movement of the arm 9 toward a vertical position.

When a pair of brackets and arms are secured in position such as indicated in Fig. 1 the arms 9 are initially swung toward each other as far as possible or to the full line position of Fig. 3. The line is then secured between the arms and their line clamping members and made as taut as possible. Regardless, however, of how tight one ordinarily attempts to tie a line between a pair of brackets or other attachment members there is usually some slack in the line after it has been secured. Because of this one or both of a pair of spaced line supporting arms, such as shown and described, can be pulled slightly away from the other while at the same time swinging the pivoted wedge member 16 into position between the bracket and the abutment member IS on the upper end of the arm 9. The full line positions of Fig. 1 show both arms pulled away from each other and the wedge member in position between the arms and their brackets and, as stated above, Fig. 3 shows the initial and tightened positions of a line supporting arm in full and dotted lines respectively.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a line supporting device which is simple in construction and which can be utilized in the interiors of buildings to suspend the line at a convenient distance above the floor and which can be swung upwardly out of the way when not in use. Furthermore, I have devised -a pivoted line support which can be adjusted in position to suspend the line tightly between a pair of supports.

It is a device which can be economically made and which requires no particular skill to install. It can be set up inan amusement room in the basement of a home and swung upwardly out of the way when not in use so that it is not a dangerous obstacle to persons walking in the room and also is hardly noticeable when it is swung flush with a ceiling or upwardly between the lower portionsof adjacent joists.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a line supporting device, a pair of brackets having means for ecuring the same to supporting means, said brackets having arms pivoted thereto and adapted to swing toward and away from each other in a substantially common plane, means on said arms for securing a line thereto to suspend the line between said arms, and means on at least one of said bracket and arm units and movable relative to said arm for adjustably positioning said arm relative to its bracket and the other of said arms.

2. In a line supporting device, a bracket having means for securing the same to a support, an arm pivotally connected to said bracket for movement from a vertical position to a horizontal position, said arm in its vertical position having an end portion substantially in abutment with said bracket and swingable away from said bracket when said arm is moved from its substantially vertical position, and a wedge element movably mounted on said bracket and adjustably movable to various positions between said bracket and said end of said arm.

KENNETH L. ORTON. 

